Lesson Learned

 A while back, I gave this little table a makeover. I mentioned that the top was pretty blotchy after my staining job. It bugged me everytime I looked at it, so I decided to restain the top.  This is the table top before restaining.  It looked BAD. 

 

The problem was that I didn't sand enough before adding the new stain. So for the second round, I sanded it down to the bare wood and then sanded some more, just to be sure.

 

 

I added the prestain wood conditioner, let that soak in according to the directions on the can, and then wiped off the excess.  Next I added the stain.  I used cloth sponges this time instead of a foam brush.  After two coats of stain, the table looks SO much better. 

 

 

So, lesson learned.  The key is to sand ALL of the previous finish off (whether it be stain, clear coat or paint) prior to applying any new stain which is unfortunate because I hate sanding!